Bath Rugby have announced second-row Stuart Hooper as their new captain for the 2011/12 season.

The former Leeds Carnegie captain joined the West Country side in 2008 and in that time has become an integral member of the squad. Hooper is Bath's fifth different captain in five seasons, following in the footsteps of Saracens' Steve Borthwick, a joint captaincy between Michael Lipman and Alex Crockett in 2008-09, Michael Claassens in 2009-10 and Luke Watson, who took the post for the 2010-11 season.

Hooper, who has made 87 appearances for Bath, admitted it was a "huge honour" to be asked to captain the side. "I am very excited for the coming season, and with the squad we have here now and everything is pointing towards a successful future for Bath Rugby," Hooper said. "We know that there is a lot of hard work to be done first though, and I am looking forward to getting on with training hard, fighting for my place in a very competitive squad, and leading the boys into the new season."

Bath's director of rugby Sir Ian McGeechan was delighted with the new appointment and claimed Hooper was a "natural leader." "He has very strong leadership qualities, which have been and will continue to be a huge asset to the club," McGeechan said. "He is a very strong communicator, a hugely dedicated professional and, most importantly, has the total respect of all the players."